New measures to tackle promotion of tax avoidance

HMRC has published a series of a consultations together with details of proposed legislative changes to existing anti-avoidance regimes to strengthen HMRC’s ability to further clamp down on the market for tax avoidance.

The proposals include:

• ensuring HMRC can effectively issue stop notices to promoters, under the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Scheme (POTAS) rules, to make it harder to promote schemes that do not work
• preventing promoters from abusing corporate entity structures to avoid their obligations under the POTAS rules
• ensuring HMRC can obtain information about the enabling of abusive schemes (for the purposes of the Enablers Penalty Regime) as soon as they are identified and ensuring enabler penalties are felt without delay when a scheme has been defeated at tribunal
• ensuring that HMRC can act quickly and decisively where promoters fail to provide information on their avoidance schemes under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS).
• making further technical amendments to the POTAS regime so that it continues to operate effectively and to ensure that the General Anti Abuse Rule (GAAR) can be used to counteract partnerships as intended.

The consultation is open for comment until 15 September 2020. The new measures are expected to be included in the Finance Bill 2020-21.